


Breathe.

by Skylar0Grace



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-24
Updated: 2010-07-24
Packaged: 2017-11-27 16:21:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/664011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skylar0Grace/pseuds/Skylar0Grace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>There's a light at each end of this tunnel,you shout 'cause you're just as far in as you'll ever be out. And these mistakes you've made, you'll just make them again - if you’d only try turning around.</em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Breathe.

**Author's Note:**

> A submission for the Short's Haven Fic Challenge over at [](http://xoverland.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://xoverland.livejournal.com/) **xoverland**  . Inspired by the song, ‘Breathe (2AM)’ by Anna Nalick.

* * *

Dean turned his head toward the irritating buzzing and reached a hand out to eliminate the source of the nuisance.  
He’d only just laid his head on the pillow and had been hoping for the earliest night he’d had in a while. His fingers hit his phone and he groaned, the lights flashing as it rang and created a soft glow. Dean flipped it open and held the phone to his ear. Not many people had his number and if they were calling, it was for a reason.

“Hello?”

“Dean?”

He sat up immediately, the quick action startling a sleeping Sam, and his heart stilled at the sound of her voice. Something was wrong.

“What’s wrong?” he asked concerned. Sam sat up, rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked at his brother.

“Were you asleep?” she asked.

Dean nodded for his brother to go back to sleep as he pulled on his jeans and exited the motel room.

“I hadn’t gone to sleep yet. What’s wrong?”

She gave a soft sigh. “Nothing, just the latest train wreck in the life of Buffy Summers. I don’t even know how it happened.”

“Tell me.”

Dean sat on the concrete stairs and ignored the slight chill to the night air against his uncovered torso.

“Ugh, the holidays sucked! I thought it would be okay because Tim would be here for Christmas—”

“Tim isn’t good enough for you,” Dean said, repressing a growl at the thought of the man who’d been the reason for so many tears. Buffy was silent for a moment and Dean was beginning to wonder whether he should have expressed his view vocally again or not when her voice, now small and timid, filtered through the speaker.

“I know…I don’t love him and I think he figured it out before I did. He left one morning and just didn’t come back.”

Dean heard the sadness in her voice and closed his eyes. She may not have loved Tim but she did care about him and she deserved a better goodbye than that.

“And then that Borlagg Demon came through and I watched as all of the girls looked to me for advice and I couldn’t give them any. I hadn’t even heard of the demon before. I’m losing their respect; I’m not the leader they want me to be.”

“Well screw them!”

“Dean—”

“No Buffy, listen to me. They didn’t know anything either. They’re hypocrites, the lot of them! You’re the best leader they can possibly have and they’re throwing it in your face? Stick them out on the damn streets and let them fend for themselves. See how far they get before they come crawling back.”

“I knew I should have told you about Tim last…”

Dean smiled. At least he couldn’t say that she didn’t know him. He heard a soft, stifled sob and he felt a pain in his chest as though he were the one hurting.

“Buffy…”

“I just don’t know where everything went wrong. Maybe if I’d told Tim about the things that go bump in the night it would have turned out differently and I wouldn’t have lost my boyfriend. And If I’d just been the good Slayer like Kendra was, then I would’ve known all about the demon and I wouldn’t be losing the Slayers’ respect. I mean, how can they respect me if they don’t trust that I can lead them?”

“Buffy, we can’t go back and change things, life doesn’t work that way. Tim was a jerk from the beginning so it’s really goodbye to bad rubbish and the girls know you can lead, they trust you. You led some of them into hell itself and fought the biggest evil they’ll ever face. And in case you missed the memo on that, you kicked its arse. Just take a moment and breathe. You’re an amazing woman Buffy and don’t let that jerk Tim or any of the Slayers tell you otherwise. Who else can say they’ve died and come back from the dead?”

“You,” Buffy replied in a soft voice and Dean stilled momentarily.

“Well, that’s a discussion for another time. For now, just know that I know you, Buffy Summers, and you’re doing alright.”

“Thanks Dean.”

“No problem, that’s what I’m here for.”

Dean heard her soft melodic laugh come over the line and he smiled to himself.

“Now go back to sleep, I’m guessing you need it.”

Dean said goodnight to the woman whom he’d met years before and smiled as he hung up the phone. He quietly entered the motel room again and sat down on his bed. He was interrupted from his thoughts by movement from the other bed. Sam rolled over and faced him.

“Who was that?”

Dean looked back down at the phone. “Just a friend,” he replied thoughtfully as he climbed into bed.

Sam smiled knowingly.

~

_Buffy entered the smoke-filled bar and glanced around, holding back the urge to cough, or possibly vomit. She spotted him sitting at the end of the bar and ignored the obvious stares from the other men as she made her way over to him. She slid onto the barstool beside him and noticed the empty glass that he was playing with. She could smell the scotch on his breath and knew immediately that he’d been contemplating trying to drink himself into oblivion._

_Are you drunk?” They both knew that he was no where near drunk and given the unfamiliar territory he was in, it was unlikely that he would allow himself to be but it was the opening he needed._

_Dean shrugged. “Don’t think I’ve been sober since October last year.”_

_Buffy winced. “Dean, he had to leave; you know that.”_

_Dean slammed his hand down on the surface of the bar and Buffy noticed the bartender look over at them. She gave him a small smile and looked back at the hurting man beside her._

_“I practically raised him Buffy and the person he has the biggest problem with is Dad. Why not me? Why wasn’t he upset about leaving me? Was it that bad that he couldn’t even be around me?”_

_“Dean, it had nothing to do with you. He wants to find out who he is outside of hunting; believe me, he needs to otherwise he’ll suffocate. He’ll make mistakes and he’ll get himself killed. Or you.”_

_Dean looked over at Buffy and she put her hand on top of his._

_“He needs to find a reason for this, a reason to put his life on the line. Once you start forgetting why you’re doing it you can forget where the lines are and end up doing something you regret.”_

_“You speaking from experience?”_

_Buffy shrugged. “You know me.”_

_Dean ran his finger along the top of the empty glass. “Yeah, I do.” Dean took a deep breath and turned to face her._

_“So, what’s been going on in the life of Buffy Summers?”_

_Buffy shook her head. “Oh no you don’t mister! I didn’t drive all the way here to talk about me.”_

_“Why did you drive all the way here?” he asked her honestly._

_Buffy sat motionless for a moment while she thought about the question. She knew that it had deeper meaning but she also knew that they had made a silent agreement not to go there. She opted for the safer path._

_“You don’t just call up like that ‘cause you turned another year older. Something happened and I don’t want you to be alone and depressed on your birthday.”_

_They sat in silence for close to five minutes. Buffy knew she had to give him time or he would clam up and she might never find out. Dean opened and closed his hand around the glass and contemplated telling her. He usually told her the problems he was having and knew that this should be no exception. However, they had just skated over exceptionally thin ice. He wasn’t sure why they didn’t talk about it and he didn’t think she knew either. Maybe it was just easier to stay friends. Maybe he was just drunk enough to make an idiot out of himself. Either way, he knew she’d driven a lot of hours to be here and even if he tried, he couldn’t turn her away._

_“Guess it’s how every story starts: I met a girl.”_

_Buffy turned and smiled but the look on his face told her that this would have anything but a happy ending. After all, he was sitting in a dark bar, drinking alone on his birthday. She didn’t say anything and he continued._

_“I knew I shouldn’t have done it but I did. I told her what I do and she told me to leave; thought I was some kind of psycho.”_

_Buffy closed her eyes. Her heart was breaking for him and she wasn’t sure what she could do. Dean had loved this woman and she’d walked away. Buffy knew how that felt; she’d been on the receiving end many times._

_“Someone couldn’t handle the great Dean Winchester? I’m shocked, truly shocked,” she joked light-heartedly._

_And then he did something she wasn’t expecting – he smiled. It was a genuine smile with a hint of cheekiness and the first real smile she’d seen out of him since she’d gotten there. It was so beautiful that she smiled in return._

_“Look Dean, I know you wish you’d never told her but you can’t wind back the clock and start again. Took me a while to realise that after Angel left.” She ignored his frown at the mention of her ex. “I know it’s feels like you can’t breathe but it’s what you’ve gotta do. It’s hard for us and I wonder if we’ll ever find someone and be happy but we’ve gotta keep going. Push forward. Breathe.”_

_Buffy shrugged and looked over at him. She was momentarily startled to see him watching her so intently and felt her breath catch in her throat. As if he noticed her indecision, Dean looked back at his glass and pushed it away from himself. He took a deep breath before standing up and dropping a few notes on the bar and nodding to the bartender._

_“Alright, let’s head out before one of these guys tries to jump you,” he said as he looked over her shoulder to the rest of the bar._

_Buffy didn’t glance back at them; she’d known they were watching her the entire time. She stood and allowed Dean to put his hand on the small of her back as he led her protectively from the bar. They stopped outside and Dean walked her to the car she’d borrowed from her Mum._

_“You didn’t have to come down,” he said quietly. “But thank you.”_

_Buffy smiled up at him. “It’s what we do. You got my back, I got yours.”_

_“You heading back?” he asked, motioning toward her car._

_“Yeah, still trying to get the Council to share the info they have on this Glory chick.”_

_Dean pulled her into an all-encompassing hug._

_“Remember, I’m here if you need me,” he whispered into her hair, “I will help you protect her.”_

_A tear threatened to leak from her eye as she held onto him tightly, her hands clutching the familiar worn leather jacket. He gave her a small squeeze before releasing her. They said goodbye and as Buffy pulled away from the bar she watched him getting into the Impala in the rearview mirror. She hoped she had helped him as much as he seemed to always help her and on the long drive home she pushed any concerns about their friendship to the back of her mind as she concentrated on the more pressing matter of Glory._

~

The impala pulled into the street, the headlights cutting through the dark as it came to a stop outside an imposing bunch of buildings. The door was quickly closed and two pairs of feet ran up the long winding driveway, albeit one slower than the other. There was impatient knocking on the heavy wooden door before it was opened by a slender brunette who pointed up the stairs and moved aside as he rushed up them, allowing his taller brother to step forward and politely shake the hand of the blue-eyed beauty.

His heart raced as he followed the directions of the younger Slayers and as he rounded the corner into the bedroom, the eyes of the former rogue Slayer met his. She didn’t need an introduction to know who he was – his eyes said it all. She stepped away from her heavily injured friend and walked softly out of the room. Dean leaned over the bed and looked at one of his oldest friends.

“Hey there. Looks like you’ll do anything for a bit of attention, huh?” He looked at her peaceful face as she slept and healed. “Though if you wanted me to come, you should have just called instead.”

He gently placed his hand over her still one and cringed at the bruises forming on her face and neck. He sat down in the chair beside her, watching her every breath praying that another one would follow the last. As the dawn broke, the Slayer stirred and softly groaned as her stiff muscles protested at the movement. Feeling warmth on her hand, she followed the hand gripping hers to the sleeping face of Dean Winchester. An appreciative grin broke out on her face and as sleep claimed her once more, she realised that if anyone was going to be there when she woke up, she knew it was going to be him. She just knew it.


End file.
